TRADED FROM: San Francisco 49ersTRADED FOR: 2025 fifth-round pick

I was initially going to rank Samuel higher, maybe even with Tunsil, swayed by the name brand and some basic dot-connecting about how his defense-wrecking potential will pair with Jayden Daniels’ playmaking ability. But there are other, peskier dots to factor into the equation, like Samuel’s career-low 8.7 yards per touch in 2024, and the amount of time that has elapsed (and the eight games he’s missed) since his only Pro Bowl season in 2021. So he sits here, just below the players who seem certain to make a big impact, to account for either of these two plausible potential outcomes: 

1) Kliff Kingsbury extracts the maximum value from his versatility, plugging him in next to Terry McLaurin to make the Commanders offense into a weekly juggernaut.

2) The 29-year-old settles into a minor supporting role, chipping in the occasional clutch catch or big gain.

There’s also the secret, third (and, perhaps, most likely) outcome, in which Samuel is neither a star nor a bust, providing minimal opportunities for takeage — but that wouldn’t change his positioning here.